Months after its postponement, the largest-ever Israeli-American
missile defense drill is back on track with plans moving forward to
hold the exercise by the end of the year in face of Iran’s continued
pursuit of a nuclear capability.

Several days ago, Col. Stephen Richmond, commander of the 10th Army
Air & Missile Defense Command at the European Command (EUCOM),
visited Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill, which is
expected to see the deployment of several thousand American soldiers
in Israel.

The drill, called Austere Challenge 12, was initially scheduled for
April but was surprisingly postponed by Israel in January under a
variety of budgetary and logistical claims. It is now scheduled for
October.

The Defense Ministry admitted at the time that Defense Minister Ehud
Barak was behind the decision to cancel the drill. This led to
speculation that Israel was either planning on attacking Iran in the
spring and therefore did not want US troops in the country or wanted
to cause the US to think that it was planning an attack to get the
administration to escalate sanctions.

The 10th AAMDC oversees EUCOM’s Patriot unit and also is responsible
for the X-Band radar that is deployed in the Negev as well as the one
recently stationed in Turkey.

The drill, which is unprecedented in size, will include the
establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at
EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of
establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict
in the Middle East.

The US is also expected to bring its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude
Area Defense) and ship-based Aegis ballistic missile defense systems
to Israel to simulate the interception of missile salvos against
Israel. The American systems will work in conjunction with Israel’s
missile defense systems – the Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome.

EUCOM spokesman Capt. John Ross said Tuesday that Austere Challenge
was being held “in the context of a long-standing strategic
partnership” with Israel and was part of a routine training cycle
designed to improve cooperation. It was not in response to current
events, such as the Iranian nuclear threat, he said.

“Every opportunity we train together is an opportunity to improve our
military capabilities,” Ross said. “Like other bilateral exercises,
Austere Challenge 12 represents another milestone in the strategic
relationship between the US and Israel to promote regional stability.”

EUCOM established the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command earlier
this year as part of a US response to the growing Iranian ballistic
missile threat to Europe.

“It’s absolutely essential that as the threats continue to expand,
the EUCOM have this capability,” Richmond said in an interview with a
US military publication in January.

During his visit to Israel, Richmond met with Col. Zvika Haimovitch,
commander of Air Defense Wing 167, which is responsible for operating
Israel’s missile defense systems – Arrow, Patriot, Iron Dome and
David’s Sling. Richmond also toured one of the Iron Dome batteries in
the South and the Air Defense Division’s training school.